Update: Wednesday, 11:56 a.m.: Wayne County’s chief judge Virgil Smith refused to disqualify Judge Robert Colombo Jr. from the case.
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Here's a pretty simple rule of thumb: Even if judges say they can be objective, they should remove themselves from a case if there's a clear appearance of a conflict of interest.
It seems that should apply in this case.
But Christine Ferretti of the Detroit News reports that Wayne County Circuit Judge Robert J. Colombo Jr. said Wednesday he didn't believe he had a conflict of interest in presiding over an emergency hearing related to Detroit’s primary election ballot recount. The request for the review was made by none other than failed mayoral candidate Tom Barrow and some other plaintiffs.
Colombo disclosed that he gave $1,000 to the Mike Duggan campaign and attended a fundraising event. He said he could still rule fairly and refused to remove himself.
But Colombo gave the plaintiffs the case opportunity to appeal his standing to the Chief Judge Virgil Smith, who has now ruled that there is no problem with Colombo presiding over the case. -- Allan Lengel
